On one hand it is often perceived that Ramp Models are a little daft in the head and then on the other hand we have Supermodel Gisele Bundchen talking about Abortion, Condoms and the Vatican.
The so-called controversy arose when the Brazilian beauty, told Folha de S.Paulo newspaper in an interview that Vatican’s views were ancient and today no one follows the rules of chastity before marriage.
When asked about abortion, she said a woman should have the right to choose what is best for her. "If she thinks she doesn’t have the money or the emotional condition to raise a child, why should she give birth?"
And she further went on to defend the use of condoms by stating,
"It’s ridiculous to ban contraceptives – you only have to think of the diseases that are transmitted without them. I think it should be compulsory to use a contraceptive."
Now if you ask my personal opinion on Ms. Bundchen’s sudden burst of ethical sentiments – Even though I agree with what my good friend has to say on this (yes the Church is free to preach their followers what they believe to be the right way), I can’t help but give a nod of approval to Gisele’s reality-based thoughts too.
With the changing times, I guess it’s for the better that religious authorities move along with their people too. Agreed, sex outside marriage should be frowned upon but to discourage the use of condoms and other contraceptives especially when sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and Aids are on the rise is quite questionable.
But I guess at the end of it all it basically boils down to each individual; one can always absorb the best of what our religion offers us along with a little dose of sensibility from our own end.
Come to think of it Gisele Bundchen is seriously lucky to born a Brazilian. I mean just imagine if she were an Indian, thousands of burning effigies and street protests (remember the actress Kushboo & Sania Mirza episode). Or would have had more than a dozen of fatwas on her gorgeous head, had she been a Pakistani citizen.
Comments
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desi witch
Jun 7th, 2007 at 1:53 pm | #
saakshi, i’m a lurker at your blog & haven’t left a comment previously.
just wanted to say that i don’t think the church or any other organisation with as much power & influence should preach dangerous, ancient and modes and codes of behaviour.
organised religion often has the power to change/influence the law of the land and that’s a spiral downward.
it’s like saying – it’s ok not to believe in Sati, but Hindu priests should be free to encourage it. A little extreme, I agree, but it’s the same principle.
shadows
Jun 7th, 2007 at 3:10 pm | #
>>> it’s ok not to believe in Sati, but Hindu priests should be free to encourage it.
Ok, daayan jee,
1. Sati is not a Hindu concept. It was more of a cultural phenomenon.
2. Sati started during the late medieval ages, its not an ancient practice. Nor it has any religious approval. Yes, some priests were misguided and the original reasons were lost. A one-time precedent was made a rule, when instead it should have ended long ago.
I am too lazy to write more about it, but this is the summary.
desi witch
Jun 7th, 2007 at 3:21 pm | #
parchayee ji,
at the risk of starting a flame war, here’s my response:
you may be very right about sati being “more of a cultural phenomenon”. but it was definitely adopted by certain Hindus and “some misguided priests”.
and these misguided priests had the power to influence others to cause the death of widows.
my aim was not to slander Hinduism or any other religion but to iterate how religious beliefs (from any religion) can turn dangerous.
virgo
Jun 7th, 2007 at 7:35 pm | #
heh! i read the endless rhetoric between u and mel on virginity :d . pretty funny
Full2njoy
Jun 8th, 2007 at 1:22 am | #
Some wise person once said “Virginity is a big issue over a small tissue”
As for condoms, i seriously believe the Pope’s parents should have used it. We would have been spared of his crap at least.
and ya, Iam a Christian. And i hate all those regressive ideas that they keep spewing out of the pulpit. The church is today one of the most corrupt institutions in the world and that truly reflects in their comments too.
shadows
Jun 8th, 2007 at 8:17 am | #
Desi Daayan jee,
Its parchhayeeyan. Plural.
Well, Sati was most prevelant amongst Rajputs, in North India, most specifically – UP and Rajasthan. Do you know why ??
No, you dont need to websearch, just think.
Ok, no flame war..
Priya Florence Shah
Jun 13th, 2007 at 9:20 pm | #
As someone who was brought up Catholic, I think the church needs a serious dose of reality. Celibacy and virginity have both gone the way of the dinosaurs. Instead we have child sexual abuse by priests, couples having more kids than they can afford to, because they’re not allowed to use contraception, not to even mention the diseases transmitted.
The Catholic church is more a political organisation than a religious one. They have been responsible for centuries of torture and abuse, thanks to the Crusades. Christianity has become an abomination of itself. I don’t know which religion the Pope is preaching, because it’s definitely not the religion started by Jesus Christ.
Priya Shah
Jun 14th, 2007 at 6:06 am | #
Hi Sakshi,
I love your blog too. Prefer to get updates like email though. Feedreaders clutter my desktop
I might meet you at Barcamp Pune (saw your blog address on the Wiki). I’m also looking for writers for my magazine for women at http://www.naaree.com Let me know if you’re interested.
Eagle Eye
Jun 16th, 2008 at 9:17 am | #
Gisele shows off her body and gets praise…she shows her incalculable ignorance and gets worshipped. That’s today’s modern age. No one is BANNING contraceptives, No one. It’s an idiotic statement to suggest that people are banning them. YES, the Catholic church is against their use but look at context. They preach a one-spouse marriage. That is the way it has been intended since marriage has been an institution. Followed correctly it very rarely leads to disease, but it MAY lead to an abundance of children. Then again…it may not. The rabid hatred of the Catholic church is really bound up in one thing…Anti-Christian Bigotry… Nothing else but anti-Christian bigotry.
What’s even funnier is all the people who come out of the wood work to show their contempt for Christianity. Do not pretend to call yourself a Christian and then in the same breath deny Christian principles.
There is no bigger Pats fan than me, but Tom and Gisele are two very selfish people who show by their actions and words what it means to have the world revolve around them. Gisele also works in an industry that espouses LEFT only principles and world view. IF she does anything but utter agreement with the rabid religious lefts ideology she literally could lose all she has worked for. THAT’S the real “choice” here. And she is making hers. The possibility exists that we don’t even know what she really feels as she may be too scared to chance career over it. THAT, in my opinion IS cowardice.
To you Christians frauds…accept it…you are frauds. You want God to be what YOU say not what God says. Thats why the descriptors are alays the same…calling the preachers old fashioned, demeaning biblical teaching and making them out to be arcane…al to satisfy your own world view. Tjis is why gays INSIST to be accepted as normal in every facet, sexuality choices, marriage and in the church. They MUST conquer the church for one thing…validity.